Now that the draft is over I’ve been meaning to run through the position groups and give my thoughts on where things stand. Where the Saints are deep and where they are vulnerable. I’m really trying to assess the strength/weaknesses of every position group. Thoughts welcome.
Quarterbacks
With Griffin Neal waived yesterday the Saints are down to three quarterbacks on the roster. Drew Brees, Luke McCown and Garrett Grayson. There’s a decent chance the Saints will bring a fourth passer to camp to evaluate but the battle to watch will be Grayson vs. McCown. Backup quarterback is feeling more secure based on how well McCown played at Carolina last year. That said, we’ll all be looking for significant improvement from Grayson in preseason this year. Can elevated play potentially justify the Saints cutting McCown and only keeping two quarterbacks on the roster? Will the Saints carry three or just cut Grayson this year if he doesn’t improve? I think keeping Grayson has added significance with Brees in the final year of his deal. For this season, though, this position feels real secure. You have an elite starter, a capable veteran backup with experience, and a young promising prospect to develop. Next offseason is setting up to be really stressful but quarterback is a really solid situation for the Saints in 2016.
Wide Receivers
Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead appear to be the starters and locks to make this roster. Rookie Michael Thomas is a lock to make the team, too, but how much of a role he has will depend on how he progresses in camp. Brandon Coleman is still on solid ground but he’ll need to show something in camp because the drafting of Thomas makes him a little bit more expendable. After those four, there’s tons of question marks. With tight end Coby Fleener really being an extension of a receiver, the Saints may elect to stay with only 4 receivers on the 53 man roster this year. If the Saints keep five receivers, there’s a lot of no name guys that will battle for that last spot. Their ability to help on special teams or tear in up in camp/preseason like Snead did is likely their only shot. I could see the Saints adding a vet here at some point.
Running Backs
The drafting of Daniel Lasco really caught me off guard because the Saints are so deep at this position. Mark Ingram and Tim Hightower are the do it all versatile power backs, and C. J. Spiller, Travaris Cadet and Marcus Murphy are the receiving back special teamers. I would group Lasco with the latter. That’s six guys battling for four or five spots. Personally, I think Cadet, Murphy and Lasco are likely battling for one spot and that’s the most compelling battle coming into camp. This is a very deep position we should feel pretty good about and it will be really fun to see this battle shake out in preseason.
Tight Ends
Trading away Jimmy Graham, losing Benjamin Watson, having Josh Hill tendered by the Bears and Michael Hoomanawanui as a UFA left a lot of uncertainty at this position. Going into this offseason, and especially once Watson was lost, I was very concerned about this position. Now it feels deep and taken care of. The addition of Fleener was expensive but I’m very excited to see what he can do with this offense. Hoomanawanui and Hill are both back, thankfully, and that gives the Saints really solid very depth. The Saints have some other guys (Jack Tabb, Chris Manhertz and RaShaun Allen) but it’s going to be a longshot for them to make this roster.
Fullbacks
Austin Johnson is back and the clear cut favorite to make the team *if* the Saints keep a fullback at all. You’ll remember last year he spent an extended time on the practice squad as the Saints rolled with no fullbacks. The addition of Hoomanawanui made keeping Johnson less necessary because the need for a fullback was limited in this offense and Hooman’s versatility allowed the Saints to have him fill in there. UDFA Sione Houma of Michigan should be interesting competition to watch. Johnson needs to continue to impress on special teams to help secure his roster spot.
Tackle
Terron Armstead, Zach Strief and Andrus Peat make the Saints three deep at tackle. You have to feel pretty good about that. Even if one of these three go down, you should have a capable player stepping in. How well Senio Kelemete filled in in a pinch last year also adds to the depth here. The Saints have a lot of young prospects on the roster here, too, so we’ll have to see if one or more develop.
Guard
Along with the backup running back spot, the starters at guard will be one of the most compelling camp battles. There’s no question this position is the biggest question mark on offense. I would say that Tim Lelito probably has the most solid footing on a starting role but nothing is given here. Peat will likely be given a chance to compete with Lelito and Kelemete for a starting spot. Landon Turner is the most intriguing UDFA in the mix, but there’s a bunch of others that can also come in and honestly have a decent shot at starting if they really impress. These spots are there for the taking. Keep an eye on Cyril Lemon who really impressed last year as well as Joe Cheek.
Center
Max Unger is one of the better players on the team. UDFA Jack Allen is an intriguing option that carried a very high grade before the draft but he’ll have to show he can back up at guard too. That’s the thing about backup offensive linemen, there more they can show they are multiple and can fill in as a replacement in different areas, the more valuable they are to the team. That’s what has kept Kelemete in New Orleans this long.
Defensive End
One of the weaker positions on the team in my opinion. After Cameron Jordan there’s not a lot of great options. It looks like Hau’oli Kikaha may be moved full time here but if so he’ll need to gain some weight while not losing the limited speed he has. The Saints have a couple decent pass rushing situational subs in Kasim Edebali and Obum Gwacham and a mutiple swiss army knife energy guy in Bobby Richardson. Maybe someone develops but the cupboard feels a little bare here.
Defensive Tackle
This, on the other hand, feels a lot deeper. The Saints have done a good job adding talent this offseason with Nick Fairley and Sheldon Rankins – who are clearly going to start. You still have John Jenkins, Tyeler Davison is a good sub, and then you’ve got great competition with David Onyemata, Kaleb Eulls and Ashaad Mabry. Good competition, depth and an exciting position group to keep tabs on in preseason/camp. As much as the Saints like Onyemata I think it’s going to be tough for him to beat a lot of these guys out with his limited experience playing football.
Linebacker
If the Saints started today, I would think the starters are Stephone Anthony, James Laurinaitis and Dannell Ellerbe. The Saints did a good job addition depth and competition at this group, though. You have Craig Robertson, Michael Mauti, Nathan Stupar, Davis Tull (who some might view more as a DE) and Tony Steward. A lot of new faces. I still don’t love this group but there’s at least more capable bodies and better coverage guys. This should be another fun battle to watch develop. I think the Saints need Laurinaitis to be ok for this direction to work. If he ends up being finished physically, we may be in for a lot of the same issues as last year.
Cornerback
I’m a little concerned about the depth here. After Delvin Breaux and Keenan Lewis there are so many question marks. And will Lewis even return to be the same player? There are things I like about Damian Swann (if his concussions are under control), P. J. Williams (who has injury AND character concerns) and Kyle Wilson. Don’t forget Brian Dixon, either, who continues to make this team with great special teams play. I think the Saints are paper thin if something happens to one of their two starters. That’s why they wanted Hargreaves to fall to them in the draft and it’s why they made a serious run at Josh Norman. Don’t be surprised if the Saints look to add another veteran to the mix here at some point.
Safety
Drafting Vonn Bell was a must to give the Saints some security behind Jairus Byrd and Kenny Vaccaro. Add Erik Harris and Jamara Sanford (who I’ve always liked) to the mix and the depth at this position not feels much better thanks to that pick.
Special Teams
I think the coverage units should be a lot better. The Saints will benefit from guys like Lasco, Harris and Stupar joining other special teams standouts like Dixon, Mauti and Sanford. Morstead is back healthy and Drescher has been fairly stable at long snapper. The bigger question marks are at returner and kicker. Keep an eye on Tommylee Lewis who will be in the mix to return kicks based on his explosiveness. We’ve seen what Murphy, Cadet and Spiller have to offer and it’s nothing too special but those guys are all capable. I don’t love the returner situation for the Saints if I’m being honest. At kicker, I think Kai Forbath is a total crapshoot and I’m not that comfortable. I assume they’ll be someone in the mix to compete with him and I’m hoping whoever wins that battle will provide the Saints with something stable IF they can pick the right one.
Going into the season, I would rate my biggest order of concern in terms of positional weakness as:
1. Guard (both starting positions)
2. Defensive End
3. Cornerback depth
4. Kicker
5. Wide Receiver depth
6. Linebacker
How do you feel about these positions?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
